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Thursday, June 27, 2013

How Do You Know They Are Reading?

Yesterday
I read Teri Lesesne’s blog on student engagement (HERE) shortly before heading to the
local pool. I was intrigued by the article she links in the beginning – a
teacher explaining why they used reading logs one year and why they gave them
up after that. Teri goes on to discuss the question many teachers ask – without
reading logs, how will they hold the students accountable? How will they make
sure they read? The answer, I believe, is that you can’t.

Students
can “fake” read with reading logs or without. To me, the logs just encourage
that. A strong reader will read with or without the logs. Typically they will
resent having to fill them out – or their parents will. The student who does
not enjoy reading is not going to magically become a reader because they need
to fill out a grid detailing what they read the previous night. More work? No
thanks.

The
question that begs to be asked, then, is how will you know they read if you
don’t use reading logs. Conferences. By conferring with my students I know if
they are reading or if they aren’t. Do some kids still try and fake it? You
bet. Can you catch them? Absolutely. But really, it isn’t about “catching” them
– or, it shouldn’t be. What conditions can be put in place to make kids want to
read? That’s the question I’m interested in. Because I can confer, book talk,
and fill the room with books all I want, but until the students decided they
want to join our reading community, it won’t work.

Engagement. I’m fascinated by it. Each year I watch kids and wonder –what made
them decide to do the work? Why do some kids “check-in” in my class, but not in
another? I was pondering this idea when my student, Josh, came up to see me at
the pool. Actually, to be more accurate, I was reading when I heard, “Mrs. S,
watch this!” shouted to me from the diving boards.

Josh came over to my chair after his crazy flip off of the high dive and
quickly told me he finished Last Olympian. He had borrowed the last two
in that series from my son. We quickly fell into a discussion over what made that
book a great conclusion for the series and what parts surprised you. I told him
that I had to flip back into previous volumes to check on a certain character I
had ignored. He told me how impressed he was with Luke’s actions at the end. We
had a quick discussion regarding the next series and what his reading plans
were for the rest of the summer. (Heroes of Olympus and Maze Runner)

I quickly
asked if I could snap a photo of him for my blog, he assented and asked what
the topic was. I said I felt like I needed to talk about reading logs and why I
didn’t feel they were necessary. He gave me a look and I asked his opinion on
them, should I have used one this year? His response, “No way, I hate those
things.” Amen, Josh.

This is the face of a reader – a reader I happen to adore. How do I know he’s a
reader? I talk to him. I read the same books he reads. We converse –not as
teacher-student, but as peers. Josh can teach me just as I can teach him. I
don’t think a reading log would ever have given me the insights I have into his
reading habits, and I don’t think it would have caused him to become an engaged
student. Quite the opposite, I’m afraid. Thanks for the reminder.

Edited to add...After writing the above post on Wednesday night as I put Liam to bed, Josh's mom texted me. They were dropping the books he borrowed on the porch. After Liam finally went to sleep, I went down to find the books. Tucked in with the books were some warm chocolate chip cookies and this note.

Thank you, Josh.And, in the spirit of this post, I will note that no reading log created any of this. Relationships did.